


In Cauda Venenum

by Ace Of Hearts (huntingmyths)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt Cloud Strife, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:26:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huntingmyths/pseuds/Ace%20Of%20Hearts
Summary: At the end of the day, all good things must come to an end. At least it is according to Cloud Strife's mentality. But opening a bakery on the plate and meeting Shinra's top SOLDIERs can only bring good things, right?
Relationships: Zack Fair/Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth/Cloud Strife
Comments: 11
Kudos: 139





	1. Chapter 1

“I think today went well.”

Cloud looked over at his brunette best friend with a grateful smile. He had no idea that some unknown little bakery would get so busy on the first day of opening. It wasn’t as though there had been a lot of coverage about the opening, especially when he hadn’t even had any promotion beforehand. It had been entirely Rufus’s fault for coming in two hours after Cloud had opened on the first day. Once word had spread, Cloud could barely keep up with the people.

“Thank you for coming last minute, Aerith” Cloud said as he piled trays on top of each other to take to the sink. “Especially so quickly. I know you’ve never been on the plate before.”

“It was fun,” Aerith replied with a bright smile of her own. “I wouldn’t mind coming to help again.”

He had been surprised that Aerith could even make it to the bakery or know where to go to find him initially. But once he’d spotted Tseng lurking behind the large crowd, it had made more sense.

He could never have expected the business when he had arrived to the bakery at two in the morning to start baking for the day. He had even had to close early due to running out of everything in the front, which was something that had never happened below the plate.

His baked goods had always been extremely cheap due to selling under the plate where most people were just scraping to get by. When Rufus had told him to triple the prices when they had talked the day before, he had scoffed at the thought and assumed that no one would buy anything for that price. People didn’t think twice as they shelled out the money for their purchases, Cloud barely keeping his jaw from dropping as he took their money and the tip jar was even more money.

“IF you want to come tomorrow, bring your flowers.” He could feel Aerith’s eyes on him. “I can change the menu above easily enough to add them and you can keep every penny.”

“You don’t have to do that, Cloud. I always have fun helping you.”

He took the bans into the back, sticking them in the sink as he turned on the water to let it fill up as he heard the tinkling of the bell on the door. He walked out, curious to know who was ignoring the “closed door” sign only to pause when he realized who it was.

“Sorry, we’re closed,” Aerith apologized. “We’ll be open tomorrow at nine.”

“It’s fine, Aerith,” Cloud said from the doorway, not looking away from the man. “It’s been a while, Lazard.”

“My mother didn’t nag you to let her help you here?” Lazard asked with an amused smile as he stepped further into the bakery. “Then again, it looks like you took a page out of her book with decorating the place.”

“Will you go turn off the sink?” Cloud asked Aerith.

She nodded and went into the back as Lazard said, “I wanted to come support my youngest brother. And to see if you had any leftovers. I have a meeting about new recruits and I wanted to ease tensions.”

“Between who? SOLDIER and Turk? And how many people?”

“My General and Lieutenants.”

Cloud turned and went into the kitchen to find Aerith cleaning the pans in the sink. He rolled his eyes as he walked over and tapped her shoulder. She gave a sheepish smile in response but just turned back to the sink.

Cloud grabbed one of the to-go boxes and packed up some of the different pastries, making sure to add Lazard’s favorite in there before taking it back out. He couldn’t be upset at Lazard, especially when he had been an integral part of Cloud agreeing to open up a bakery on the plate.

“Here,” Cloud said, holding out the box.

“These weren’t meant to go to the orphanage, were they?”

“There’s more than enough,” Cloud assured him. “And no, those were going to be my secret stash on the way home to bribe Reno with.”

Lazard just chuckled at that before ruffling the spiky blond hair and asking, “Dinner tomorrow? My treat.”

“You’d better be paying.”

“Do you need help bringing everything down to the orphanage?”

“Aerith and I have it,” Cloud assured the older blond. “Let me know what they think and if they have any suggestions.”

Lazard nodded and left, Cloud locking the entrance behind him.

He went over to the till and began counting the money. He finished, packing it up and taking it to a safe that was in the back of the building. He had already decided that he would take the money to the bank every other day, though no one had the code to the SOLDIER-proof safe except for him. It just wasn’t feasible to keep so much money in one place especially when he was so used to the pickpockets down in the slums – mostly kids who were orphans or whose parents were struggling and they were just trying to help.

“Everything’s all cleaned,” Aerith told him with a smile. “Do you need anything else?”

“I just need to place an order to be delivered in a few days,” Cloud said. “Your portion of the tips is in the jar.”

“I think today was a success.”

Cloud glanced over at his friend as she turned and walked out of the kitchen with a look of triumph on her face. He could only shake his head in amusement as he began boxing up the cookies and buns for the orphanage in Sector Five.

He had to agree, though, this was a success.

Once orders had been made and the building was locked up, Cloud and Aerith made their way to the train under the plate. The train ride was as long as always and Cloud yawned as he sat there, waiting for the Sector Five stop.

“Are you going to Wall Market tonight?” Aerith asked.

Cloud nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll probably go home and take a nap before I go though.”

“I want to come with.”

“Aerith…”

“Oh, come on. You’re not going to see Corneo, are you?”

“No, but I have some errands I have to run for M.”

“Great, I’ll meet you at the entrance.”

Cloud sighed in defeat, knowing that it was pointless to argue with Aerith, especially on the train. He would either call M and tell her that something came up and he wasn’t coming or just get their early and avoid her the entire time. He didn’t have the energy to deal with anyone after the day he’d had, but he had already promised to help out today.

Once they got off the train at the Sector Five station, the two friends went to the Leaf House. As soon as one of the kids saw them, she had taken off to go get the others. It was normal for the two of them to make daily trips to drop off the sweets and as soon as one of the children from the orphanage saw them, word would quickly spread until everyone would show up within ten minutes.

“Look who finally decided to show up,” Biggs said as they approached the door.

“I even closed early,” Cloud replied, putting the boxes down.

“That bad?”

“That good. We had to turn people away.” He saw the kids showing up, causing him to start putting the boxes out on the table and opening the lids. “But I made extra and left them in the back for the kids.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Of course I do.”

“Cloud!”

Cloud waved at the kids as they ran towards him. He had helped get rid of some monsters from the “secret playground” a few years back as well as he brought leftover pastries each day with the exception of the two days a week he took off.

“Were the people nice?”

“Did you sell a lot?”

“Did you bring the mini pies?”

“Everything I brought is in the boxes,” Cloud told them. “If you want anything different tomorrow, let Aerith or Biggs know.”

With that said, he turned and headed off towards the Chcoobo carriage stop. He leaned against the sign, yawning as he waited for the carriage to come by. He couldn’t wait to get home and just pass out for a few hours before he had to get up and take care of some errands both for himself and for Corneo.

***

“Cloud!”

He gave an easy smile to the girls as they caught sight of him walking into the Honeybee Inn. This place had always been his safe haven and it still was regardless of how long it had been. He had spent countless hours here, even after all Andrea had done to help him. Even now, Andrea was always there to listen to any concerns he had, talk him down from the ledges he kept climbing up to.

“Is Andi busy?” he asked the man at the desk.

“The show’s about to start. You’re welcome to go in and watch or you can head up to his quarters. Either way, I will let him know you’re here.”

The blond nodded as he walked towards the entrance to the main stage. He knew that M and Sam would be there as well – the Trio may have their issues between themselves but they always supported each other – but if he was anywhere near the stage, he would be dragged up to the stage to dance. And right now, he wanted anything but that.

He found a booth in the back corner and sat down, waving off the Honeybees that moved to sit with him. He normally wouldn’t mind, especially when he knew a lot of them personally and outside of the Inn, but he just wasn’t in the right mindset.

A glass of water placed in front of him, finally got his attention as he looked up to see Lily standing in front of him with an amused expression. He had known her for as long as he’d known Andrea and she knew all of his tells that even Aerith didn’t know. She knew that he enjoyed being on stage with Andrea, but when he was in a mood, he would hide in the back where Andrea couldn’t see him in the shadows.

“I thought you’d still be asleep after the day you had,” Lily said as she took the seat next to him.

“I had some things to do for Corneo and Madam M so I thought I’d stop by here for a bit. I wanted to talk to Andi if he’s not busy.”

“That man will always make time for you.”

Their short conversation came to a halt as the lights dimmed and the music began. Cloud had seen this performance too many times for him to count, but it was almost comforting to watch. It calmed down his mind that hadn’t stopped racing. He had barely been able to get a few hours of sleep and his mind was back at it as soon as he had woken up. It was the same racing that had caused him so much pain in the past and he knew that just talking to Andrea could help.

As soon as the performance was over, he walked with Lily out to the entrance after everyone else had left. He didn’t want to be around many people and most of the employees would be busy with customers. He just hoped that Andrea hadn’t already scheduled a customer for the night.

“I heard you had stopped by,” Andrea said with a smile as he hugged Cloud, who clung to him tightly. “Upstairs?”

“Please.”

Andrea nodded and led Cloud up to his room upstairs. All of the other Honeybees were on the main level, but Andrea as the owner had his own floor. There were a couple of rooms for more high-end clients but they mostly went unused. Cloud had never even seen more than the main one and one other used before. The room they went into had black furniture though there were yellow accents everywhere.

Cloud climbed onto the bed, curling up as he sat against the headboard with one of the yellow pillows gripped against his chest. He could feel the want clawing against him like he was sixteen and trying to recover from mako addiction. It hadn’t been this bad in years and he knew that if he let go of the pillow, his hands would be shaking.

“What happened?” Andrea asked as he sat perched on the edge of the bed, watching the younger male. “I thought today was opening day for your bakery on the plate.”

“It’s too much. I-I thought I could do it, but I…”

“Was there a problem with some customers?”

Cloud shook his head, admitting, “It… it went well. But I… I got told to triple the price I charged before and… how can people afford that much? It was always a struggle for everyone before.”

Andrea just hummed as he reached out and put a comforting hand on Cloud’s knee, squeezing lightly. It was as grounding a gesture as it had always been.

“You’re in a whole different world above the plate, but you always have a place in Wall Market with the rest of us.”

Cloud opened his mouth as there was a sudden knock on the door. He couldn’t help his muscles tensing as the door opened and a redhead walked in. He was older than Cloud, though what caught Cloud’s attention were the glowing green tint of his eyes. The mako that was coursing through his veins just as it was Cloud’s.

“Apologies,” the man said, looking between Andrea and Cloud. “I wasn’t aware you were already with a guest. The desk told me I could come up.”

“Cloud isn’t a client,” Andrea said. “He’s here as a friend as you are.”

The man nodded, sweeping over and asking, “Do you mind if I stay?”

Andrea looked at Cloud, who nodded in agreement, not wanting to send away Andrea’s friend. He slowly let go of the pillow as he continued to sit against the headboard, his fingers clenching into fists to stop them from shaking. He could feel Andrea’s gaze on him as he did so, knowing that if he looked up, there would be a concerned look on the older man’s face.

“You didn’t-”

“No.” The objection came out a little too quickly for his own taste. He could only imagine what was going on through Andrea’s head, let alone the stranger’s. “I haven’t bought mako. I came here instead.”

He could hear Andrea’s sigh of relief, knowing that it had been the right option. He had relapsed before and it had been the worst experience of his life. He had put Andi through so much and it really wasn’t fair to the owner of the Honeybee Inn when he cared so much for Cloud.

“You take mako?” Andrea’s friend asked.

“I’ve been completely clean for two years.”

“Impressive. Not many people can recover from mako addiction.” The man stuck his hand out. “I’m Genesis.”

“Cloud,” the blond said, accepting the handshake.

Andrea’s PHS began ringing, the older man looking down at it before saying, “Apologies, gentlemen. It seems I have a prior engagement I must be going to.” Cloud moved to stand up. “It’s a meeting with the Don. You’re not needed.”

Cloud nodded as Andrea swept out of the room, leaving him there with Genesis. He looked at the redhead, watching as he removed his jacket to reveal a plain black t-shirt underneath. His eyes caught sight of the small spatter of dots on the crook of his arm that were just slightly lighter than the rest of his skin – something people without mako enhanced vision would never notice. He had those same marks but they littered both arms and didn’t look as clean.

“You work for Andrea?” Genesis questioned.

Cloud gave a small smile. “I apprentice for Madam M. Andi’s the one who introduced us a few years ago.”

They sat there for over an hour, just talking between the two of them before Genesis’s PHS went off. He looked at it before sighing in defeat and getting up.

Cloud honestly didn’t know why it was so easy for him to open up to Genesis. Andrea, M, and Sam had all seen him at his weakest and Aerith had forced her way in until he’d opened up to her. But Genesis was different. He was… he had a knowledge about what Cloud had gone through that no one else did. He had been vague, though he had mentioned his own experiences with injecting himself with mako. He also mentioned some friends who had gone through the same thing as well.

“You’ll be in Wall Market again tomorrow?” Genesis asked.

Cloud nodded, saying, “Every night usually. I’ll probably be at the colosseum or at M’s parlor.”

Genesis nodded, sweeping out of the room and leaving Cloud alone. After a few moments, the blond sighed in defeat and straightened up the bed before leaving as well.

“Lily!” he called to one of the Honeybees, walking towards her.

Maybe he could do this. Maybe having the bakery on the plate wasn’t such a bad thing after all.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week and things were finally starting to calm down with the bakery. There were still rushes at certain times but there were no longer lines out the door for majority of the day. He also had Lily there to help him and Aerith run the front while he would go into the back and make additional pastries for the afternoon, which meant that there were also pastries that were made more for lunch, which had resulted in another few days of a lunch rush after word spread.

Aerith’s flowers were also selling like crazy there and she kept all the money that was made off of them like Cloud had promised though she insisted on paying a portion of the rent for the building because she was also using the place for the flowers as well.

They were just getting ready to close when the bell on the door tinkered and Cloud glanced up to see a man walk in. He had shoulder length dark hair and Cloud knew that he’d seen the man before though he wasn’t sure where. He had the same mako glow as Cloud and Genesis and Cloud vaguely wondered if this was one of the friends that Genesis had mentioned multiple times during their meetings though he never gave a name.

“Sorry,” the man apologized. “Are you closed?”

“Not yet,” Aerith spoke up with a smile.

“I’m going to take off,” Lily said, looking at Cloud. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Cloud just nodded as he grabbed some of the trays as Aerith helped the man. He heard Aerith making small talk when the man mentioned the specific things that he had placed into Lazard’s order the first day. No one else had that exact same order and no one would unless they were the kids from the orphanage. Aerith seemed to recognize it as well because she glanced over at Cloud.

“Aerith, do you want to start cleaning up the back kitchen and I’ll finish up here?” Cloud asked.

Aerith just smiled at him as she walked into the back of the building.

As soon as she was gone, the man asked, “Is there a problem?”

“Not at all,” Cloud replied. “I just normally handle the register at the end of the day so it makes more sense for me to help you and then close up the front.”

The man nodded in understanding as he continued to look at the pastries. As he picked them out, Cloud would box them up until the man just sighed and asked for two of everything. Cloud raised an eyebrow but did as he was told, knowing that it wouldn’t be cheap. He hesitated as he punched everything into the register, unsure of if he should give the man a discount thinking better of it. Especially if there was the chance of Madam M or Don Corneo finding out that he was essentially giving away money.

“I’ll also take three flowers. A red camellia, a honeysuckle, and a yarrow.”

“You’re a flame in my heart, bonds of love, and everlasting love,” Aerith said from the entrance to the kitchen.

Cloud looked over in surprise as the man just laughed and said, “You got me.”

“I’m surprised you know the specific flowers and their meanings.” Aerith walked over, picking out the flowers for the man as she knew that Cloud wouldn’t know which ones they were referring to. “Not many people do. Definitely not the people who live in Midgar.”

“I grew up in a town called Banora. Plants and flowers were something my mother taught me.”

Cloud rolled his eyes as at Aerith’s launch into flowers with the man, the blond grabbing his PHS and checking the messages on it. He saw one from Genesis about how he would be working late but would try to swing by the massage parlor if he could. Cloud immediately responded back to not worry about it, he wasn’t planning on being there long today.

“Do you take private orders?”

Cloud looked at the man in surprise before saying, “Not officially, but I could depending on when you need it.”

“Would two weeks be enough time? It’s my lover’s birthday and I know that he appreciates your pastries.”

Cloud nodded, grabbing a notepad from the counter behind him. “What kind?”

“A mint chocolate with extra frosting?”

Aerith giggled at that. “Someone has a sweet tooth?”

“He won’t admit it, but yes.”

Cloud gave a soft snort of amusement before asking, “What kind of frosting?”

“Probably chocolate.”

“Do you want ‘happy birthday’ spelled out on top?”

“You don’t have to.”

Cloud shrugged as he passed the pad of paper and pen so the man could write his name and phone number down on it. Cloud glanced down at the name as he tore off the page before he threw out an amount that it would cost. He could see Aerith balking at the amount though the man – Angeal according to the name on the paper – just passed over payment for both the cake and the pastries he was buying that day.

That was the first time Cloud was taken aback by the customer. He knew it was extremely over budget and he had completely expected Angeal to barter the price with him. But he had also expected complaints from the other customers about the prices of his pastries. That was how things were done in the slums and he was still having a hard time comprehending that this place was a completely different world to Nibelhiem and the slums.

“Keep the change,” Angeal said before leaving the bakery.

Cloud frowned as he checked the money before his eyes widened at the amount. It was double what he had charged the man and just holding that amount from one person made his stomach twist. He put the money for the pastries and what was required for the supplies and time for the cake before putting the rest into an envelope that he attached the piece of paper to. He was going to give back the money and couldn’t keep it in good conscience.

***

“How much did this all cost?” Genesis asked as Angeal walked in with three boxes of pastries.

“Considering it’s a place the Vice President likes, I was expecting it to be more expensive,” Angeal answered as Genesis pulled out one of the blueberry muffins. “I also ordered Seph’s birthday cake while I was out.”

“How much did that cost?” Zack asked.

“Two thousand gil.”

Genesis jerked upright, choking on the muffin he had just bitten into as Zack stared at the older man in shock. They must have heard their oldest lover incorrectly, there was no way he had just said it cost two thousand gil for a cake that Angeal could make himself. It was ridiculous that anyone could ask for anywhere near that price. He was half tempted to go to the bakery and demand the money back.

A chuckle got their attention as Genesis looked over at Lazard in confusion. Their director didn’t usually get involved in the conversations of the First Class SOLDIERs if it had nothing to do with work. He had more important things to worry about than the relationship between the four of them.

“Did I miss a joke?” Zack questioned, looking on in confusion.

“My half-brother owns that bakery, which I assume is who gave you that price,” Lazard explained with an amused look. “You haven’t spent much time in the slums, have you?”

“Not particularly.”

“He’s from the slums, specifically Wall Market. A handful of the stalls there use the bartering system. You just showed him that he can demand whatever price he wants from you.”

Genesis couldn’t help but snort at the comment. He was highly aware of how things in Wall Market worked, especially now that he had spent the past week visiting with Cloud in the evenings. He had the pleasure to see Cloud negotiate with a few of the vendors, though most of them just accepted the price because of who he worked for – Genesis was still trying to get either Andrea or Cloud himself to explain how he came into the employ of Don Corneo.

“Sorry,” Genesis apologized, sitting up straight once he’d regained himself. “I’ll go down there right now and demand your money back.”

“No. It’s fine, I figured he knew who I was so he thought it was fine to take advantage.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Zack spoke up.

“They’re closed anyways.”

“Then I’ll go in the morning,” Genesis stated. “Or tell me what he looks like and I’ll go to Wall Market to find him.”

“I’ll speak with him tonight,” Lazard stated as Sephiroth stepped in.

Genesis fiddled with his PHS, sending a message to Andrea and asking if he could help track down someone in Wall Market. If anyone could, it would be one of the Three. He figured he could ask Cloud, but he still wasn’t sure how good of friends they were in terms of being able to outright admit that he was a SOLDIER. He knew that Cloud disliked Shinra as much as everyone else under the plate if the scathing looks and comments whenever he saw the rare SOLDIER or trooper in the area.

They finished up the meeting before Zack asked, “How was Professor Creepy?”

“The same.”

Genesis inwardly cringed at those words, knowing that it was absolutely horrible. Hojo was absolutely brutal when it came to Sephiroth and it was no less than absolute abuse that Sephiroth suffered at the head of the science department’s hands.

“A night in with everyone?” Angeal offered.

There was a slight nod before the four of them all stood up and made their way to their apartment. That was a good thing about them all working for Shinra, they all shared a floor and had their own individual apartments. They normally spent their time together in either Genesis or Angeal’s apartment depending on if Angeal was cooking dinner or they all wanted a movie night on Genesis’s television or in Genesis’s bed as it was the biggest.

Because they didn’t have time to go grocery shopping, it was agreed to in the elevator that they would spend the night at in Genesis’s apartment. Zack made the order for dinner at Sephiroth’s favorite restaurant while Genesis sent a message to Cloud saying that he wouldn’t be able to see him tonight.

“You going out again?” Zack asked.

Angeal and Sephiroth who had both been on missions for most of the past week looked over at the two of them in question. Genesis took a deep breath, trying to not chuck a fireball at Zack for sticking his foot in his mouth. He couldn’t have kept his mouth shut for just a little while longer until Genesis felt comfortable enough to bring it up.

“I’ve been spending time in Loveless Avenue and occasionally going down to see Andi,” Genesis stated, rolling his eyes. “It’s my time to spend how I want while everyone else is on missions.”

Angeal just hummed in response, causing Genesis to bristle. He knew that hum too well to know that it would be brought up again at a later time when Zack wasn’t around to hear the argument. It would be possible for Sephiroth to be around, but Angeal was against the youngest member of their relationship be around during that argument. Not that there would be an argument.

Genesis yawned as he walked into the apartment, the redhead immediately going to draw a bath for Sephiroth. He poured in some lavender bubble bath while checking his PHS for Andrea’s response to his question.

_Andi: That depends on who you are looking for._

Genesis smirked triumphantly before immediately responding with _The person who recently opened a bakery on the plate._

_Andi: What did he do?_

_Genesis: Nothing that would warrant the involvement of the Trio or the Don. He purposely overcharged Angeal for an order._

There was a pause in the conversation, giving Genesis enough time to go out and grab Sephiroth only to find the older of his three lovers both sitting at the table. The fact that they had sent Zack off to probably get the food so that they could confront Genesis.

“Gen, we know you-“

“It’s not what you think,” Genesis interrupted. “And if you just asked me, I would have told you.”

“Then what was Zack referring to?”

“I have been going out every night,” he confirmed as he grabbed the back of the chair. “I met someone that Andi took in a few years ago apparently. I’ve been spending time with the kid.”

There was a pause before Sephiroth said, “I thought you didn’t do charity.”

“He’s an ex-mako junkie and he’s ended up in Corneo’s employ.”

There was a frown from both of them as they took in what Genesis was insinuating. Don Corneo was a slimy man who had the ear of multiple Shinra execs and even the president himself thanks to the Honeybee Inn and keeping a good portion of the slums in line. The idea of him having someone who could match the strength of at least a Third-Class SOLDIER was concerning.

“He’s not one of Corneo’s henchmen?”

“No. He’s the apprentice of one of his most trusted down in Wall Market.” He could see the tension easing slightly out of their shoulders. “In other news, go take a bath before it gets cold.”

“You have a temperature-controlled bath,” Sephiroth insisted.

Genesis merely rolled his eyes as he pointed towards the hallway that led to the bathroom. Sephiroth gave a small smirk as he walked over and pecked Genesis on the lips before disappearing down the hallway.

“You’re sure you’re not trying to run again?” Angeal asked once they were alone.

“Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return.” He walked over and perched on Angeal’s lap, wrapping his arms around the bigger man. “I would tell you before I tried to run away. And I’d bring you, Seph, and even the puppy with me if it came to that.”

His PHS began going off, getting his attention before he found two messages on it.

_C: Not a problem, I promised a friend that we could have a night in anyways. If you come tomorrow, I’ll have some cookies though. ;)_

Genesis just chuckled at that before saying, “I don’t think we’ll have any issues tonight.”

_Andi: I can’t tell you who they are for their own safety. However, I can tell you that they do feel bad and intend on returning the extra funds when Angeal returns to pick up his cake._

Genesis frowned at that, knowing that he would rather shake the thief down himself, but he was coming to understand the laws that controlled Wall Market. They may be shady, but they would never turn one of their own over to Shinra unless it was at the risk of other lives. Petty theft was something that would be dealt with by those who controlled that sector.

“What’s that look for?” Angeal asked.

“Nothing,” Genesis answered, pocketing his PHS. “Come on, let’s pick out a movie so the puppy can’t choose some dumb action flick.”


End file.
